Asian Games 2018: Amit Panghal wins Gold in Men’s 49kg boxing final

Asian Games 2018: Boxer Amit Panghal won Gold in Men's 49 kg boxing on Saturday morning at the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia. Amit defeated Uzbekistan's Hasanboy Dusmatov in the final on a split result.

Amit defeated Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov in the final on a split result. (Source: Twitter)

Asian Games 2018: Boxer Amit Panghal won Gold in Men’s 49 kg boxing on Saturday morning at the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia. Amit defeated Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov in the final on a split result. This is India’s 15th Gold at the ongoing event which takes it to the 8th spot – one ahead of Kazakhstan. The medal also takes India’s overall medal tally to 66. The Indian started the first round cautiously before coming to his own in the second and third round.

The 22-year-old Armyman, who won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, had entered the final by defeating Philippines’ Carlo Paalam in a hard-fought game by 3-2 verdict on Friday. Amit won gold at the prestigious Strandja Memorial Tournament in Bulgaria earlier this year and has been enjoying a breakthrough season. He is also an Asian championships bronze-medallist.

Amit was India’s only boxer to make the final in the ongoing edition in Indonesia and he ensured a golden end to the campaign. He stunned the reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan. In a tough final bout, the Indian boxer held his nerves and kept landing his punches even as the Uzbek tried to overpower him.

Last year, Panghal had lost to Dusmatov in a close quarter-final contest in the Hamburg World Championships. The Uzbek was also voted the best male boxer at the Rio Olympics in 2016, where he had clinched the gold in the light flyweight category.